Cotton Mather - when extremism melds religion, politics, ego and public perception

[pinto]

It has happened in our own national history. Not recently to this very, very extreme extent, of course, but the lessons are there to see, imo. Extremism is dangerous. The separation of church and state is a vital standard to maintain in a secular democracy. I hold some sincere religious views yet strongly support that standard. This is from our history before the establishment of the United States and our federal Constitution.

~ pinto

Full text of "The blue laws of Connecticut; taken from the code of 1650 and the public records of the colony of Connecticut previous to 1655, as printed in a compilation of the earliest laws and orders of the General Court of Connecticut, and from Dr. Lewis's book on Sunday legislation; also an extract from the constitution or civil compact adopted by the towns of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield in 1838-9, showing the Biblical basis of the colony legislation; with an account of the persecution of witches and Quakers in New England and some extracts from the blue laws of Virginia"

*snip*

Of Cotton Mather, more is required to be said:

"He aspired to be considered the leading champion of the church, and the most successful combatant against the Satanic powers. He seems to have longed for an opportunity to signalize himself in this particular kind of warfare; seized upon every occurrence that would admit of such a coloring to represent it as the result of diabolical agency; circulated in his numerous publications as many tales of witchcraft as he could collect throughout New and Old England, and repeatedly endeavored to get up cases of the kind in Boston.

There is some ground for suspicion that he was instrumental in originating the fanaticism in Salem; at any rate, he took a leading part in fomenting it. And while there is evidence that he endeavored, after the delusion subsided, to escape the disgrace of having approved of the proceedings, and pretended to have been in some measure opposed to them, it can be too clearly shown that he was secretly and cunningly endeavoring to renew them during the next year in his own parish in Boston.

" How blind is man to the future ! The state of things which Cotton Mather labored to bring about, in order that he might increase his own influence over an infatuated people, by being regarded by them as mighty to cast out and vanquish evil spirits, and as able to hold Satan himself in chains by his prayers and his piety, brought him at length into such disgrace that his power was broken down, and he became the object of public ridicule and open insult. And the excitement that had been produced for the purpose of restoring and strengthening the influence of the clerical and spiritual leaders resulted in effects which reduced that influence to a still lower point. The intimate connection of Dr. Mather and other prominent ministers with the witchcraft delusion brought a reproach upon the clergy from which they have not yet recovered."

"Of the history of Cotton Mather subsequently to the witchcraft prosecutions, and more or less in consequence of his agency in them, it may be said that the residue of his life was doomed to disappointment and embittered by reproach and defeat. The storm of fanatical delusion, which he doubted not would carry him to the heights of clerical and spiritual power in America and everywhere, had left him a wreck. His political aspirations, always one of his strongest passions, were wholly blasted, and the great aim and crown of his ambition, the presidency of Harvard College, once and again and forever had eluded his grasp " (Ibid. pp. 366-369, 503).

It is indeed a pity that a man of his abilities and opportunities for good should be stranded on such a miserable, delusive shoal.

http://archive.org/stream/cu31924029253908/cu31924029253908_djvu.txt

[skepticscott]

1. What liberal and progressive

religionists consistently fail to recognize is that extremism is not an unexpected result when belief in a supreme being is praised, coddled, defended and upheld as a virtue. In fact, it is almost inevitable that what they call "extremism" will manifest itself if you have enough people thinking that an omniscient and omnipotent creator of the universe is commanding that certain behaviors are required or forbidden. And it's made even worse when those commands come only from one source that was cobbled together from writings thousands of years old, and when that supreme being hasn't seen fit to provide an update since.

Of course, the question of why obeying what you sincerely believe are the commands of a supreme being would constitute "extremism", instead of perfectly reasonable and understandable behavior, is never, ever answered.

[rug]

2. What rigid anti-religionists

consistently fail to recognize is that belief in a Creator is not an inevitable chemical response leading to "inevitable" extremism. If it were, we'd all be dead by now.

It's one of the errors you consistently make.

[pinto]

4. Agree, extremism prevails among some religionists. As in some sections of society at large.

Social, religious, political, personal, whatever. I think it's toxic. The Cotton Mather snip speaks to that very well.

I don't think that religion, in and of itself, fosters extremism. Some use religion as a tool, for better or worse.

[Warpy]

3. Even at that, Mather remains a mixed bag

because of his support for Dr. Boylston in the inoculation controversy. Boylston had discovered that small amounts of matter from the pox scraped into the skin of healthy people resulted in a very mild case of the disease which most people survived and that afterward they would be immune to it for life. Mather realized this held great promise and supported his work.

His work was controversial mostly because it was icky and because a small percentage of people did die from it, mostly people out of childhood. Mather's fellow Puritans condemned it as the work of (guess who?) Satan and seemingly forgot what Mather's support had done for the Witch Trials.

Mather did remain unrepentant about his role in those trials. To admit his error would be to admit to murder and to the fact that part of his religious belief system was dead wrong. He was not strong enough to do that.

[pinto]

5. Didn't know about that part of the smallpox history. I know it was a huge killer in those days.

[Warpy]

6. Yes, it lets you see just how early vaccination was tried.

Edward Jenner perfected the idea in the late 1700s by using cowpox, a milder disease with a low death rate that conferred immunity to smallpox after exposure instead of the more dangerous low load smallpox.

That Cotton Mather was an early supporter of inoculation against disease is surprising, given his proclivity toward blaming everything else on sin and the wrath of gawd.